Pointe du Hoc,Omaha Beach, American Cemetery - Day trip from Paris to Normandy

With your driver-guide you will travel to the Normandy beaches in an air-conditioned minivan. Once you arrive in the Calvados county in Normandy, you will stop at “The Pointe du Hoc”, 100 feet high cliffs between Omaha and Utah beaches. In mid 1943 the german TODD organisation set up 6 long range artillery guns (155mm caliber) housed in concrete bunkers and facing the english channel above the cliff. In fact, "Pointe du Hoc" was one of the thousand german stronghold positions of Hitler' project to build a wall of defense along the coast in Europe. Known as « The Atlantic Wall » and which consisted to build bunkers, guns battery and beach obstacles network along the coastline, from the spanish border to Norway in order to prevent any allied invasion. In June 6, 1944 at 07h10 am 225 US Rangers aboard barges landed just below from the cliffs and began to scale them using ropes in order to stormed the guns emplacement and then destroy them all. Blown up concrete bunkers, bombs craters and traces of the battle are still visibles today.

The National Guard Monument sits on the spot (WN72) where the 29th National Guard Division broke through German defenses on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The monument and the original bunker which it sits atop are maintained by NGEF to preserve the legacy and pay honor to all National Guardsmen who have fought in the European theater.

At Easy Green sector, two monuments were erected after the war and still stands facing the beach : Monument « Signal of the Liberation » (photo stop on the spot) This Monument commemorates the landing of the Allied Forces on June 6, 1944 on Omaha Beach, and the liberation of Europe. Two frescoes can be seen on either side of the monument, one dedicated to the 1st US Infantry Division, the other at the 116th Regimental Combat Team of the 29th US Infantry Division. Monument « The Braves » (photo stop on the spot) A monumental work by sculptor Anilore Banon which pay tribute to the courage of Allied Forces soldiers. There you will have a bit of time to walk along the beach and maybe grabb a bit of sand to fill in a tiny glassed container as a souvenir to bring back home.

The monument of the 1st US Infantry Division (Red Sector / Easy) in the form of a commemoration-obelisk. The obelisk stands in the middle of the area of Wiederstandsnest (WN62). WN62 was one of the strongest defending positions in that area. WN62 or Widerstandsnest 62 (Resistance Nest 62) overlooks Easy Red and Fox Green Sectors of OMAHA Beach at Colleville sur Mer. WN62 was the most powerful resistance nest on the OMAHA beach coastline.

Overlord Museum chronicles the period of the Allied landing until the liberation of Paris. The collection was collected by someone who was both a witness to the conflict and involved in the reconstruction of Normandy. Personal items from individual soldiers and armoured fighting vehicles from the six armies in Normandy will be presented as a series of reconstructions showing over 35 vehicles, tanks and guns.

The guide is now taking you to visit the beatiful maintained American Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer which overlooks Omaha Beach nearby. The 180 acre site contains 9,387 perfectly aligned white crosses and a memorial chapel which adds the finishing touches to this moving scene, allowing visitors to reflect on the price of war. While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest miltary decorations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing large maps and narratives of the military operations; at the center is the bronze statue, “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” An orientation table overlooking the beach depicts the landings in Normandy. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool; beyond is the burial area with a circular chapel and, at the far end, granite statues representing the United States and France.

Arromanches is remembered as a historic place of the Normandy landings and in particular as the place where a Mulberry harbour artificial port was installed. This artificial port allowed the disembarkation of 9,000 tons of material per day. It was on the beach of Arromanches that, during the Invasion of Normandy immediately after D-Day, the Allies established an artificial temporary harbour to allow the unloading of heavy equipment without waiting for the conquest of deep water ports such as Le Havre or Cherbourg.The port was commissioned on 14 June 1944. This location was one of two sites chosen to establish the necessary port facilities to unload quantities of supplies and troops needed for the invasion during June 1944, the other was built further West at Omaha Beach. The British built huge floating concrete caissons which, after being towed from England, then had to be assembled to form walls and piers forming and defining the artificial port called the Mulberry harbour. These comprised pontoons linked to the land by floating roadways. One of these ports was assembled at Arromanches and even today sections of the Mulberry harbour still remain with huge concrete blocks sitting on the sand and more can be seen further out at sea. Some key figures: by 12 June 1944 more than 300,000 men, 54,000 vehicles, 104,000 tons of supplies had been landed.